Recommended Video:

CROMCROMWELL — Just as quickly as he worked his way into a tie for the first-round lead Thursday, Abraham Ancer was forgotten after posting a second-round 73.

Few gave Ancer a passing thought until he re-emerged on the leaderboard on Sunday. He fired a 7-under-par 63 to climb the leader board with 10-under 270 for the tournament, good for an eighth-place tie.

“Yeah, extremely happy with how I played. Obviously Thursday and today were really good rounds. Tough days there on Friday and Saturday,” Ancer said. “Conditions were pretty tricky too, especially on Friday with all the rain.”

Ancer has two top-five finishes this season, but both were before the calendar hit 2019. So his standing in the world rankings (63) and the FedExCup standings (60) will improve. He is playing in the Open Championship next month.

“I mean, I was 13 strokes behind so I wasn't really thinking of winning the tournament,” Ancer said. “I knew it was so bunched up that a really low one this morning will move up substantially, so that was my plan. I knew I was playing good enough to shoot a low one out here.”

Can’t go home yet

Brooks Koepka said he has been physically and mentally exhausted much of the week following the U.S. Open. He slept for the better part of 13 hours before rising at 5:30 a.m. Sunday to prepare for his tee time.

Abraham Ancer plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Travelers Championship on Friday.

Abraham Ancer plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Travelers Championship on Friday.

Photo: Tim Bradbury / Getty Images

Photo: Tim Bradbury / Getty Images

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Abraham Ancer plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Travelers Championship on Friday.

Abraham Ancer plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Travelers Championship on Friday.

Koepka was in the first group off, playing alongside 2016 Travelers Championship winner Russell Knox. Koepka shot 71 to finish the tournament tied for 57th place at even-par 280.

Knox shot 65 and finished at 6-under. The duo played TPC River Highlands in less than three hours.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played in the first group off on a Sunday,” Koepka said. “Maybe Tiger (Woods’) event. I usually don’t play well there. I don’t waste much time. I’m definitely not a slow golfer.”

But the trip home to get complete rest will have to wait. Koepka, 29, has some “commitments” he needs to keep before going home for a few days. He is committed to play in the inaugural 3M Championship in Minnesota in two weeks.

“I’ll get as much rest as I can when I get back home,” Koepka said. “I’m not going to practice. I’ll take some time away from the game and realize what has gone on. Like I said yesterday, I don’t think I’m over Bethpage (winning the PGA in May). With these majors so tightly bunched, I didn’t really have a chance to soak that one in. Then all of a sudden, I’m playing again.”

Koepka, the world’s No. 1 golfer, has won four of the last nine major championships and has said plenty of times that the Travelers will be on his schedule often in the future.

Watson, Molinari

also struggle

The big names at the Travelers didn’t have a great week as a whole. In addition to Koepka, Francesco Molinari and three-time winner Bubba Watson struggled. Molinari finished tied with Koepka for 57th place after shooting a 71 Sunday while Watson, the defending champion, tied for 54th (279) with a final-round 71.

“For me, my technique of chipping and stuff, it was difficult. I hit a lot fat shots. It’s something to learn from and move on from from the golf side of it,” Watson said.

Two other golfers who draw large crowds, former champions Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth, played together Thursday and Friday and missed the cut.

Pro debuts

Former Oklahoma State University teammates Viktor Hovland and Matt Wolff both made their professional debuts this week after the Travelers gave both exemptions.

Hovland shot 73 on Sunday. Wolff survived the 36-hole cut, but shot 74 on Saturday to miss the 54-hole cut.

joseph.morelli@hearstmediact.com; @nhrJoeMorelli

Your online hub for high school sports!

Sign up for The Whistle, the GametimeCT newsletter, to get the best, most up-to-the-minute, engaging high school sports coverage in the state.